short ones Flashcards
Identify the three types of precipitations patterns associated with precipitation regimes.
1) Uniform throughout year
2) Maximum precipitation during summer
3) Maximum precipitation during winter
Identify the three types of climates groups and the characteristics of each. Focus attention on the air masses associated with each group
Group I - low latitudes - cT, mE and mT air masses
Group II - midlatitudes - Polar front, varied air masses
Group III - high latitudes - cP, mP and cA air masses
Identify the characteristics of a Wet Equatorial climate.
Wet Equatorial (1) - warm to hot w/abundant rainfall
Example - Amazon or Congo Basins
Identify the characteristics of a Mediterranean climate and examples illustrating the type. Focus attention on an example of a Mediterranean climate found in the United States.
Mediterranean (7) - hot, dry summers, rainy winters
Examples - Southern California, Mediterranean Sea
Identify the characteristics of a Moist Continental Climate and examples illustrating the type.
Moist Continental (10) - warm summer, cold winter, ample precipitation
Example - Northeastern US
Identity the general timeframe of the “Little Ice Age” (a cooling of climate) that affected much of the Northern Hemisphere.
Little Ice Age” Mid-1400s through mid-1800s
Identify the impacts that a warm phase of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation has on regions in the United States.
NW US warm & dry
SW US wetter
Identify the impacts to Europe that variations in rainfall, temperature, etc. in the Northern Atlantic near Greenland will affect the flow of the Atlantic Thermohaline circulation.
When weak, northern Europe colder than normal
When strong, northern Europe warmer
Identify the three factors of the Earth-Sun geometry largely responsible for periods of glaciation.
Eccentricity
Obliquity
Precession
Know the features associated with analog forecasting.
Using historical data for similar synoptic conditions
Examine past event’s outcome to predict future
Identify the two greenhouse gases that have risen in concentration in the atmosphere since 1800 as a
result of human activity.
CO2 and Methane
Identify the percentage of the Earth’s carbon that resides in the atmosphere
2%
Identify examples of aerosols that can cool the atmosphere.
Dust
Organic carbon
Sulfate particles
Identify the three types of fossil fuels that have contributed to the increase in global fossil carbon emissions.
coal, petroleum & natural gas
Identity how much carbon - in terms of total metric tons - humans liberate from using fossil fuels, deforestation, and agricultural clearing.
9 billions metric tons per year total
